Friday, January 01, 2016

Memories of Murder: Ensemble Staging

Master filmmakers do more than tell a story. They craft an entire experience for the viewer, which means manipulating every detail in a way that leads you through the drama.

How do you emphasize to the audience that something is important? Well, you could always cut to a close-up, but how about something subtler? Today I consider ensemble staging — a style of filmmaking that directs the audience exactly where to look, without ever seeming to do so at all.

Tony Zhou explains the intricacies of ensemble staging in another episode of the fascinating series Every Frame a Painting, using the 2003 South Korean crime-drama Memories of Murder. I had never heard of the movie, but now I want to see it. (via Digg)